THE EXTENT of SEED PREDATION BY BRUCHINE BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CHRYSOMELIDAE: BRUCHINAE) IN A HETEROGENEOUS LANDSCAPE IN SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Lipase and esterase: to what extent can this classification be applied accurately?

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The Extent on the Nanoscale of Pt-Skin Effects on Oxygen Reduction and Its Influence on Fuel Cell Power

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Nutritional intake according to injury extent in ulcerative colitis patients

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is often associated with nutritional deficiency, which appears to contribute to the progression of UC severity. The present study aimed to evaluate nutritional status and dietary intake in UC remission patients. Methods: The present study comprised a cross-sectional study in which variables such as extent of disease (distal colitis, left-sided colitis, pancolitis), remission period, sex and age were recorded. Extent of disease was assessed by the results of a colonoscopy and dietary intake was evaluated by using 3-day, 24-h recalls. A Kruskall-Wallis test was used to compare the intake of macro- and micronutrients among the three study groups. The analysis was complemented by the Mann-Whitney test. A logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictive factors of extent of disease (pancolitis versus left-sided colitis versus distal colitis). Results: The median (range) age of the 59 patients was 49.0 (37.0-63.0) years and 53.3% were female. Twenty-six (44.1%) patients had distal colitis, 11 (18.6%) patients had left-sided colitis and 22 (37.3%) patients had pancolitis. A high probability of an inadequate intake of fibre (100%), fat soluble vitamins (>40% for vitamin A and >95% for vitamin E), vitamin C (>34%), calcium (>90%) and magnesium (>50%) was identified in the study group. Vitamin D intake (odds ratio = 0.60; 95% confidence interval = 0.39-0.94; P < 0.05) was significantly associated with increased intestinal damage. Conclusions: A large number of individuals showed an inadequate intake of nutrients. In addition, the consumption of vitamin D was significantly associated with extent of disease. © 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Relationship between race and clinical characteristics, extent of disease, and response to chemotherapy in patients with low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia

Objective. To evaluate the potential effects of race on clinical characteristics, extent of disease, and response to chemotherapy in women with postmolar low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN).Methods. This non-concurrent cohort study was undertaken including patients with FIGO-defined postmolar low-risk GTN treated with comparable doses and schedules of chemotherapy at the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center (NETDC) between 1973 and 2012. Racial groups investigated included whites, African American and Asians. Information on patient characteristics and response to chemotherapy (need for second line chemotherapy, reason for changing to an alternative chemotherapy, number of cycles/regimens, need for combination chemotherapy, and time to hCG remission) was obtained.Results. Of 316 women, 274 (86.7%) were white, 19 (6%) African American, and 23 (7.3%) Asian. African Americans were significantly younger than white and Asian women (p = 0.008). Disease presentation, and extent of disease, including antecedent molar histology, median time to persistence, median hCG level at persistence, rate of D&C at persistence, presence of metastatic disease, and FIGO stage and risk score were similar among races. Need for second line chemotherapy (p = 0.023), and median number of regimens (p = 0.035) were greater in Asian women than in other races.Conclusions. Low-risk GTN was more aggressive in Asian women, who were significantly more likely to need second line chemotherapy and a higher number of chemotherapy regimens to achieve complete remission than women of African American and Asian descent. Further studies involving racial differences related to clinical, biological and environmental characteristics are needed. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Metacommunity organisation, spatial extent and dispersal in aquatic systems: patterns, processes and prospects

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Site and extent of amino acid digestion in dairy cattle fed with corn and its byproducts

The study was conducted to evaluated the site and extent of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), methionine (Met), lysine (Lys), and threonine (Thr) digestion of corn and byproducts obtained from corn germ mixed with different amounts of extruded or non-extruded ether extract (EE) in dairy cattle. Treatments consisted in eight types of feed and two processing in a 4 x 2 factorial design. There were four feeds: corn grain cracked (Corn), corn germ meal with 1% EE (CG1), corn germ meal with 7% EE (CG7), and corn germ meal with 10% EE (CG10). The feeds were processed in one of two ways: extruded (Ex) and not extruded. In situ techniques were used to determine DM, CP, Met, Lys, and Thr partial and total tract digestion. A basic diet was compounded of corn germ meal, soybean meal and coastcross hay in a 70: 30 roughage to concentrate ratio. There was no interaction (P>0.05) between feeds and processing method. Extrusion improved (P<0.05) total tract digestibility of corn DM but not CP. Intestinal digestibility was similar (P>0.05) for corn and corn germ meal mixed with 7 and 10% EE, regardless of EE processing method. The CP total tract digestibility of corn germ meal with 1% non-extruded EE was 16.62% higher (P<0.05) than that of the extruded form. The best total CP digestibility was obtained for corn germ meal with 7% EE, independently of the processing method. The effects of EE processing method on partial and total digestibility differed between amino acid. Corn and corn byproduct extrusion may improve dry matter digestibility, but do not necessarily influence crude protein digestion. Ruminal and intestinal digestibility of Met, Lys, and Thr depends on both feed type and processing method. Therefore, amino acid availability should be considered individually.